Tag: Faith

A Gift From God

Ephesians 2:8 NLT, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”

This verse is such a refreshing reminder. Our salvation is a gift from God. There is nothing we did or can do to earn it. The Father’s unconditional love for us, caused Him to send His only Son to die for the sins of the world.

John 3:16 NIV, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Everything that was needed for us to have salvation and eternal life was completed by Jesus Christ on the cross. All the praise and glory belongs to our Risen Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s an amazing privilege we have to know God intimately, through His Son.

The love we have for God should drive us to take action and serve Him wholeheartedly, but still the works we do can not save us. The works we do help draw others to Him. He is the Source. Thank God for His mercy and grace. His Holy Spirit lives in us and works through us to help share His love with a dying world.

Rejoice and be glad because God’s holy, and magnificent plan is perfect. All we have to do is believe and receive His free gift. He is so good.

Blogger Recognition Award

Thank you Ashok at Musings of a Wanderer for this Blogger Recognition Award. ❤️😊 It’s my first time receiving this award. I appreciate your blog posts because they have a sense of serenity. 🕊I enjoy your beautiful nature pictures and writings. Thanks for the inspiration you bring to me and our blogging community. 🍃🍃🍃

Please visit Ashok’s blog:

Musings Of A Wanderer

About the Blogger Recognition Award

The Blogger Recognition Award is an award given in recognition of all the hard work that goes into creating a blog. It is a way for bloggers to support, motivate and promote other bloggers who have clearly put in huge amounts of time and effort, and produced valuable content.

Bloggers are very talented people – they work hard, they promote, market, advertise, run a busy site.

They organise all kinds of activities, they encourage, motivate, interact, engage and are community orientated. It matters not if they are shy and reticent or loud and personable – each actively progressive blogger is the same – they all work hard and passionately with their blogs, they put the hours in to deliver to their audience each day a welcoming location to read, absorb, learn and have fun.

To escape the hustle bustles of city life, or the begrudgeries of boredom – they entice readers to peruse their pages to look for entertainment.

That is what the BRA celebrates.

Award Rules

• Write a post displaying your award.

• Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you, and provide a link to their blog.

• Tell the story of how your blog started.

• Give two pieces of advice for new bloggers.

• Nominate other bloggers for the award.

• Let the nominees know that you have nominated them.

HOW I STARTED MY BLOG

I started my blog in 2017, but didn’t start blogging consistently until 2018. I have liked writing for along time and would send out weekly inspirational emails to a small group of family and friends. The emails were entitled, “Drawing Closer to Christ”, so that was when my writing of devotionals truly begin.

TWO PIECE OF ADVICE TO NEW BLOGGERS

✍️ Be consistent. Whatever schedule you decide upon, be sure to stick with it. Rather it’s twice a month or twice a week. I started off blogging once a month, then once a week, then twice a week, then daily. But now I give myself a break usually one day a week for now.

✍️ Be Yourself. Years ago, I saw a quote that said, “Be yourself. Who else is better qualified?”-by Frank J Giblin II

I think that’s part of the beauty of blogging, having the privilege to be yourself and allow who you are and what’s most important to you to shine through your posts. ☀️

Nominees:

Saania

Ayansola

T.R. Noble

3,2,1 Quote Me – Hope

Thank you Sheree at View From The Back for thinking of me and tagging me. I love reading about your travels and viewing the lovely pictures on your blog. 🌷

I thank God for the strength He gives me through Jesus Christ to have Hope. 🙏🏿

“Isaiah 40:31, but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

This tag is the work of Rory @ https://aguycalledbloke.blog and I thank him too for his many efforts to engage all of us at WordPress.

Guidelines:

☀️Thank the person who nominated you

☀️Thank the creator of the tag (Rory)

☀️List the 2 quotes you selected

☀️Select 3 nominees

My Two Quotes On HOPE:

My 3 nominees for the HOPE tag are:

1. Sam at Saem’s Blog. Sam recently wrote an awesome article about having hope through depression. He also shared about his own struggle with depression.

Depression: There Is Hope

2. Mrs. Holliman at GOD’s LOVE. Mrs. Holliman recently wrote this inspiring article that tells how we can have hope through receiving God’s peace.

Peace of Mind with Love Jesus Christ Our Heavenly Father

3. Choralade at Love Melodies. Choralade’s recent article was excellent and encourages us to keep believing.

Don’t Stop Believing

Because He Trusted In God (part 2)

Daniel 6:23 NIV, “…And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”

When I finished writing about Daniel’s ordeal with his coworkers, I was reminded of a time when I was working with a very difficult co-worker. I had just been promoted to junior accountant and she was the senior accountant who was responsible for my training. She spoke to me very rudely, and if I made any sort of mistake (which was inevitable since I was in training), she would blow things way out of proportion.

She would complain at times to the manager, or other accountants, in an attempt to make it seem like I was doing a horrible job. No matter how well I did, it was impossible to please her. Some days I even dreaded going to work because I didn’t want to cope with her foolish behavior. My family and some of my close friends were praying continuously over the situation. The prayers are what helped me to be strong and keep going. I knew God was with me in the “lion’s den”.

After working with her for about a year, I had had enough. I felt God was leading me to talk to the manager (again). But this time I told the manager if I had to continue working with that accountant, I would leave the company. That was when things turned around. The manager apologized for not taking action sooner, and immediately moved me to work with another senior accountant. The senior accountant I had been working with was humiliated, because to her this was like a demotion. The manager told me pride was most likely the reason the previous senior accountant was acting so badly. She was fearful her work wouldn’t be perfect because of me. (Proverbs 16:18 GNT, “Pride leads to destruction, and arrogance to downfall.”)

This new senior accountant told me her goal was to help me get promoted. In addition to training me, she would also have weekly one on one meetings with me so we could discuss any concerns. Well after two months of working with her, I did get promoted from junior accountant to senior accountant! It was amazing to see how after dealing with unfair treatment from the previous senior accountant, God was moving on my behalf. As a bonus, the old senior accountant ended up resigning a month after I was promoted. This was even better, because now she was gone completely.

Even though working with her was unpleasant to say the least, I knew it was all part of God’s plan. I was able to pray for her salvation, and did so for quite some time even after she left the company. I also learned more about working with difficult people, and saw first hand how ugly pride can be. Daniel had to go all the way to the lion’s den before God delivered him, but he never stopped trusting God. I had to keep trusting God when dealing with my difficult coworker. I also had to trust His timing.

So whatever you may be going through, keep trusting God to provide what you need. Keep trusting Him to deliver you at the right time. No matter how long you must wait, remember…His grace is sufficient for you, and His power is made perfect in your weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God’s Favor Surrounds You

Psalm 5:12 NIV, “Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.”

It’s comforting to know that as children of God, we are surrounded by His favor. We’ve been made righteous through the precious blood of Jesus. Because Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf by giving His life, we now have the blessing of God’s favor.

The favor of God that rest upon our lives, allows us to experience God’s plentiful blessings from day to day. His favor also keeps us safe from things and people that are not part of His plan for us.

Since we have God’s favor, we do not have to walk in fear. Instead we can walk in confidence. We can be confident knowing that God’s favor is with us no matter what we may face. His favor surrounds us with His love and protection.

I pray that you will have peace knowing that through Christ, the favor of God is surrounding your life.

Because He Trusted In God

Daniel 6:23 NIV, “…And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.”

Daniel was an exceptional person who stood out from the crowd. He was great at what he did, and his coworkers didn’t like it. They became envious of him because he was up for a promotion. Since there was no fault that they could find with his work ethics, they had to find another way to bring him down. So they basically decided to go after him for having faith in God.

They convinced the king to create an order that would take away Daniel’s right to pray to God. Then when they caught Daniel praying, he ended up being thrown into the lion’s den for punishment. Although Daniel spent the night in the den, God locked the jaws of the lions and Daniel was unharmed. You can read the whole story here: Daniel 6

Daniel’s situation is still so relevant today. There are people who will try and hold you back when they see you getting ahead or doing your best to serve God. They may even lie on you or try and turn others against you.

Sometimes we wonder why certain things happen, or why God is taking so long to bring justice. He always has a perfect plan, and nothing slips past His watchful eye. Daniel trusted in God to deliver him, and He did. God will do the same for you. No situation, no matter how out of control it may seem, is beyond God’s power. He is fully aware of the evil doers and their wicked schemes. He will intervene at the perfect time.

The “lions” that attempt to destroy you are already defeated by the Living God who never slumbers or sleeps (Psalm 121:4). Keep trusting in the Lord with all your heart (Proverbs 3:5-6). The finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, has overcome the evil that is in this world (John 16:33).

Rest For The Weary

Matthew 11:28 NLT, “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

There is a lot that we are up against on a daily basis, but Jesus offers us rest. We can give Him all our burdens in prayer. We can tell Him about all of our fears, and uncertainties. It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant our problem may seem. If it bothers us, then it matters to our God. There is no need to hold back anything from Him.

Jesus also gives us rest as we strive to know Him better. He wants us to trust Him with every step of our spiritual journey of becoming more like Him. No one is perfect, and growing in Jesus is a lifelong journey. We must trust Him with the process. There are times where we will feel like we’re doing better than other times. But as long as we are seeking the Lord daily, then He will help us to grow. The important thing is that we don’t give up.

The rest our Savior Jesus gives us, is a rest that can only be found in Him. He offers us His peace in a world full of chaos. His Spirit will lead us on level ground.

Psalm 143:10 NIV, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”